Brief relational psychoanalytic treatment

Abstract

In this article I describe an approach to brief psychoanalytic treatment that is consistent with many of the key principles of the relational tradition. In this approach the treatment process is conceptualized as an ongoing cycle of therapeutic enactment, disembedding, and understanding, enactment and disembedding. Particular emphasis is placed on the use of countertransference disclosure for purposes of facilitating the collaborative exploration of relational scenarios that are being unwittingly enacted between patient and therapist. The influence of the brief time frame on the treatment process is explored and differences between the current approach and other approaches to brief psychoanalytic treatment are examined. A case is presented to illustrate the approach, and a number of questions are explored regarding the nature of change in short- versus long-term treatments.